Three Hearts One Love
by Tattoo Alchemist
Summary: Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura are on a mission but something goes very wrong that leaves Hinata and Sakura critically injured and only one option is left that will create someone the likes of which Naruto has never met before.
1. The Mission

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights to Naruto or any other songs or other character references made in this story.

© Naruto – Masashi Kishimoto

Naruto: Three Hearts. One Love

Chapter 1: The Mission

It was the time of summer in the Country of Fire; the sun came up over the forest outside the Hidden Village of Konoha, bringing the warmth of the coming day across all the surfaces that the light touched.

The rays of the sun came through the window of Naruto Uzamaki's apartment. Since his bed was up against the window, he could feel the warmth of the sun against the sheets of his bed. It started at his feet, worked up his legs, and eventually the young ninja began to stir and sit up. He was wearing his light blue pajamas and that same silly black and white cap that had the look of an animal that looked like it was sinking its teeth into his head. Naruto rubbed his eyes to get the sand out and he yawned, but when he closed his mouth he could feel the rotten feeling in his breath, teeth, and tongue.

Getting up from his bed sluggishly he went to the bathroom to do his daily routines; shower, brush his teeth, and then have a little breakfast. Though, to Naruto Uzamaki, breakfast usually meant a little Instant Ramen and milk, but living alone like he did he didn't quite know the joys of a home cooked meal like so many other children and teenagers in Kohona took for granted.

After having his small breakfast, he got dressed in his usual orange and black clothes and headed out rather lazily into the village. There really wasn't that much to do anyway since pretty much everyone that Naruto wanted to do anything with was gone. The one that Naruto wanted to be with the most was his master, the Frog Hermit Jiraya whom Naruto had nicknamed "Ero-Senin" (Pervert Hermit). He was the one who would teach Naruto some of the greatest techniques that no one else in the whole village would know, but unfortunately the Pervert Hermit was always away from the village. That, more than anything, just irritated the living piss out of Naruto, even thinking about it made him grind his teeth in anger and frustration.

Walking rather casually with his hands behind his head and his elbows out as if he were lying on the grass, Naruto wandered through the streets of Konoha. Even his mind wandered on different thoughts, such as the thought of his missing friend. The one who had abandoned Kohona for his own selfish reasons, Sasuke Uchia. Although, there was something else that was bothering Naruto, it never occurred to him until that moment of his casual walking.

It was the memory of the girl that he had loved named Sakura Haruno, she whom Naruto had tried so very hard to gain her esteem and hopefully return of her affections. Unfortunately, she loved another, that other was Sasuke. The thing that really started to twist Naruto was what had happened after Sasuke had abandoned the village. Sakura had come to Naruto just as he was about to head out after him in a small five-man team. She was in tears about what had happened but she begged Naruto to bring Sasuke back.

As he thought about it, he started to wonder if Sakura wanted Sasuke back because the three of them were on the same team, or was it because she was in love with him? It was far more likely that she wanted this request of Naruto because she was in love with him. Yet, like the nice guy that he was, Naruto smiled, gave a thumb up, and promised to Sakura that he would bring Sasuke back.

Just then Naruto had a feeling in him that could only be like heartburn. That flaming sensation that rose in his stomach, through his throat, and into his mouth, and with each inch that it went up it singed into his inner tissues. _The Bitch loved him more than me._

Even though Sakura had become more mature in recent times, it still burned Naruto that she did that to him. That she came to him and expected him to be the nice guy that all women always turned down in favor of a total asshole of a guy who'll treat her like shit.

His fingers began to dig into the back of his head as his teeth began to grind, grind, and grind. If he had gone any deeper he would have drawn blood from the back of his own head, but the one thing that stopped him was a voice in the present. It called out to him.

"Naruto!"

Stopping in his tracks, he turned to where the voice was coming from and there he saw the same pink-haired girl that he was thinking about and was making him grind his teeth; Sakura Haruno. She was like a scratch in the roof of Naruto's mouth that would heal if he left it alone but he couldn't, but still he smiled as he looked at her because any attention from the girl that he felt anything for was enough to fill him with hope.

"Sakura-chan." He smiled

Sakura stopped and spoke to him, "Glad I found you, Tsunade-sama wants to speak with us about a mission."

"You and me?" Naruto asked curiously.

"And one other." Sakura answered, "She's already on her way. Come on; let's not keep the Hokage waiting."

* * *

Arriving in the Hokage's office, Naruto and Sakura were met by the familiar faces of Hinata Hyuga who stood before the Hokage's desk, Tsunade's subordinate; Shizune who stood beside the Fifth Hokage herself. Sitting at the desk, she was pouring through scrolls and different papers that talked about the goings on within the village as well as requests from clients for missions. She looked up from her work at the arrivals with her aged golden eyes that were framed in her rather young looking face.

"Ah, Naruto and Sakura, please come in." She instructed as her gaze went back down to her papers.

"What'd you want to see us about, Granny-Tsunade?" Naruto asked casually bringing his hands behind his head.

Tsunade winced at that inane nickname that Naruto had come up for her, but keeping her composure together, she set down her papers and scrolls and began to instruct.

"Naruto Uzamaki, Sakura Haruno, and Hinata Hyuga." Tsuande began, "I have a mission for you three. In the capital city of the Country of Fire, Central, northeast of Kohona, there have been several attacks by a radical group calling themselves _The Flaming Sword._"

"A terrorist group?" Sakura asked.

"It's safe to say that," Tsunade said as she propped up her arms and hands into a bridge and rested her face against it. "According to the intelligence of both Konoha and Central, this group intends to attack several targets over the next month, but there is no indication of what time or what the other targets are. What we're sure of is that their target is the city hospital."

"Attacking a hospital?" Hinata asked in her mousy voice, "…how horrible."

"Damn right." Naruto grunted as he clenched his fist.

"I'm glad to see that you're in agreement. You're mission is to go to Central and try to prevent these terrorists from carrying out the attack. Also, if it is possible, try to find out their other targets."

"You can count on us." Sakura smiled, "But who will be the leader?"

"Actually," Tsunade said as she leaned back in her chair, "I decided that Sakura should be the leader of the group, since she's the most level headed."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto snapped at the Hokage.

"It means," Tsunade stated bluntly, "That you, _Naruto_, don't possess the skills or attitudes needed to be the leader of the team."

Naruto's face scrunched as he pouted over the fact that Sakura was made into the team leader.

"When do we head out?" Sakura asked.

"Right away" Tsunade answered, "Good luck to you three."

* * *

Taking the road out of the village, Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzamaki, and Hinata Hyuga went on their way to the place of their mission. Although Sakura and Hinata had taken the usual attitude towards the mission, Naruto was still stewing about how Sakura was made into the leader. It could be seen in the way his face was scrunched and how he gripped the straps of his backpack as if he were strangling someone's neck. There was also the way that he took his steps, in fact it seemed like he was stomping with the way that his feet came down on the dirt road.

It was about after forty-five minutes after taking this, Sakura had to say something.

"Stop sulking, Naruto." She ordered, but then tried to cheer him up by saying "Being the leader isn't all that great."

"Yeah…sure" Naruto said grumbling out his sentence still grinding his teeth, stomping his feet, and strangling his backpack straps.

Seeing that Naruto wasn't the easiest person to cheer up with simple words and so another method of attack was needed for his sulking.

"Hey lets stop for a little lunch" she suggested.

Naruto smiled a little bit as he stopped in the dirt path and the others settled on a small path of grass under the shade of a great tree. Looking up at the clear blue sky it was easy to see that it was going to be a very warm day. Naruto took out his small canteen to take a small drink of water.

Hinata on the other hand reached into her pack and took out a small bento box that had pickled rice balls in it. Pulling them out carefully with both hands she handed one to Sakura and then finally to Naruto.

"F-f-f…for you, Naruto" she said handing a rice ball to him.

Taking it with a single hand, Naruto took a look at the small snack and saw that there was something very odd about it. Unlike a regular rice ball that was just round and white, this one had yellow triangular slices sticking out the top and small pieces cut very intricately to make eyes, mouth, and most of all marks that looked like whiskers. It was then that it occurred to Naruto that Hinata had made a rice ball that looked like his own face. He had seen something like this before when he, Hinata, and Kiba were on a mission and she had done the same thing. He looked back at Hinata who was blushing, twiddling with her fingers, and looking down at the ground.

"I…I made…it for you." She said to Naruto.

Sakura came closer to Naruto to look at the confection that Hinata had created. At first she was put off by what she had seen, but at the same time she was amazed by the amount of detail that this girl had put into such a relatively simple food item. Still, the fact that the rice ball had the look of Naruto's face wasn't exactly something that Sakura could stomach.

Taking a bite of the rice ball, Naruto took in the deliciousness of it.

"Now that's tasty" Naruto smiled, "You really will make a wonderful housewife, Hinata."

Hinata smiled once again as the three ninja ate the small lunch and enjoyed the afternoon sun, but there was no time to enjoy things for too long, there was a mission that needed to be done.

To Be Continued…


	2. The Capital

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights to Naruto or any other songs or other character references made in this story.

© Naruto – Masashi Kishimoto

Naruto: Three Hearts. One Love

Chapter 2: The Capital

The capital of the Country of Fire, Central, was a true metropolis. It was nothing like what Sakura, Hinata, or Naruto had experienced or seen in their short time of being ninja. They stood on a small hill a few miles away from its outskirts and could see the entire city was set onto an island with the tallest buildings in the center and the others growing shorter and shorter as it expanded outward towards the edge of the island. The mainland encircled the island like a hand encircling a ball with several bridges expanding inward like a spider's web. From the point where the three ninja were standing they estimated that it must have been just a little over half a mile between the islands edge and the lip of the mainland.

The tallest building in the center all had unusual designs to the structure as it had reached up to the sky. If one were to characterize it as anything it was like the building was a great flame. The overall design of it was just like any other building, a tall structure like a monolith of steel and glass. Except its exterior windows did not have the typical black or grey color but red like the hot embers of a fire itself. The rest started at the base and as it worked up to the top it flared into shades of yellow and orange. By marveling at it, the three ninja could understand why the Country of Fire is such a high power among all the other nations and that building was proof of it.

"Wow…" Hinata awed at the sight.

"Yeah" Naruto agreed, "How tall do you think that red building is?"

"Over 1,654 feet" Sakura explained, "It's called the Fire Tower. It's known as the tallest building in the world."

She pointed out to tallest building in the center of the city. The three of them looked and saw the tallest building of all Central City. It was like a spire that rose from the ground and to the sky as if it were trying to reach the realm of the Gods themselves. Instead of regularly flat and rectangular sides as most of the buildings, it was round and twisted round and round as well as got thinner and thinner as it came to its final foot.

"Come on, you two." Sakura called from the bottom of the hill.

Naruto and Hinata saw that she had gone ahead instead of standing in awe of this place and wanted the others to follow behind her. As the two of them had caught up to her, they had already entered into the city limits of Central. It wasn't a gradual ease into the city, it was more like civilization had come down around them like a wave of buildings, roads, store fronts, and people. There were all kinds of people going to and from whatever origin and heading to whichever destination that they had in mind. The city of Central was like a great beehive of humanity to the simple minds of the Kohona Ninja. There were even a few looks from passers by who noticed the symbol on their forehead protectors but they quickly dismissed it as they continued on their business.

"Wow!" Naruto marveled when he saw the city with his own eyes. Everywhere else that he had been in his life, including Kohona, seemed like small time potatoes compared to what he saw there.

"Naruto" Sakura called once again like a mother calling after a straggling child. "Let's go, we have business to attend to."

"Right" Naruto acknowledged and quickly sped up to catch up to Sakura and Hinata.

Even though it seemed like Sakura Haruno was keeping her calm while traveling through the busy streets she was actually just as awed and stunned as Naruto. The only difference was that Sakura had learned to internalize things a little more quietly than most. One would even think that she was one of two minds, an external Sakura as well as an internal one; the internal voice that spoke the truth of situations no matter how unpleasant it may have seemed.

"S…Sakura-kun" Hinata stammered for a moment.

"What?" Sakura asked wondering what Hinata wanted, while her inner voice was screaming, _Spit it out, will ya?_

"I think we're here." She answered.

Stopping in their tracks, the three Ninja looked up and once again were marveled at what they saw. The building was a hospital, but it was so much bigger than the one in Kohona, which was only three or four floors high, depending on which wing one was in. The hospital of Central was at least fifteen floors high towering over them like a silent but gentle giant. It's giant red cross blazing against the steel structure like the sun itself with the letters reading up to down along the side; "Central Hospital".

"We're here." Sakura smiled while at the same time her inner voice was thinking; _shit, I didn't need her to tell me that._

* * *

After following some very helpful instructions from the information kiosk on the first floor, the three Ninja came to the tenth floor where the administrator of the hospital was waiting for them in room ten-seventy-seven. They entered the office and found a rather aged woman sitting behind a desk that was stacked with papers. Her hair already a combination of silver with small traces of deep brown like chestnuts and her face showed lines of age. She reminded the Ninja of their eternally busy Hokage, but as the door had stated (as well as her nametag) she was the hospital administrator; Heather Kessler.

"You three must be the Ninja from Kohana." She smiled up at them, her voice kind and sweet instead of being stuffy or officious.

"Yes, ma'am." Sakura stated, "We are. I am the team leader, Sakura Haruno. This is Hinata Hyuga."

Hinata bowed her head as she twiddled her fingers like she always did.

"And the short one is Naruto Uzumaki." She finished.

"What?" Naruto snapped at Sakura.

Heather giggled, "Such youth and full of life. It's odd how the Ninja villages recruit so young."

"No better time to start training, ma'am." Sakura pointed out.

"So it is." Heather nodded, "well then, you've all been assessed of our situation here in Central, both the target and the perpetrators, right?"

"Yes, we have."

"We don't know when they'll attack this hospital, but we know that it'll be soon."

"If I may, ma'am. If you're convinced that The Flaming Sword is going to attack this hospital, shouldn't you evacuate it?"

"We can't" Heather shook her head saddened. "This hospital is the only one with the best equipment for the entire city. If we were to evacuate we'd be endangering some of our most fragile patients. Not to mention we'd be letting the terrorists know that we know of their plans."

"So you're just going to sit there and let them attack?" Naruto snapped angered by the administrators' wishy-washy choice.

"What else can we do?" Heather said sounding pitiful, "that's why the city hired you three. To help us."

"We'll do what we can." Sakura answered, "First we'll need to do a search and sweep of the hospital."

"Very well" Heather acknowledged, "You have the cooperation of the entire hospital staff and me."

Sakura and the other two bowed before leaving the administrators office.

* * *

"Let's get started." Sakura ordered to her team members. "Hinata, use your Byakugun and see if you can find anything."

"Yes." Hinata acknowledged as she brought her hands into a seal as she activated the technique. It truly was a wonderful advanced bloodline ability only matched (even surpassed as some would debate) by the Uchia's Sharingun Eyes. With the technique activated, Hinata saw through the different levels beneath the surface, she saw the wires beneath the walls, the water pipes for the fire systems, and even the faint outlines of the walls in the rooms beyond.

"Do you see anything?" Sakura asked.

Hinata shook her head.

"Keep looking." Sakura stated not as an overtly commanding way but rather like a plea.

"Yes." Hinata concentrated even harder through her Byakugun. At first she didn't see anything out of the ordinary but then when she looked down at the bottom of the wall that separated the rooms she saw a small string of chakra energy. It had an odd radiance to it that one doesn't normally see in chakra – at least when one looks at it through the Byakugun. Normally, in Hinata's experience, chakra has a certain white-blue glow to it but what she saw in the string was red and yellow almost like a flame. She concentrated on it even more like the aperture of a camera shrinking down to let only a little of the bright sunlight in and that's when she saw it.

All around she saw the same yellow and red flame-like strings in all directions and interconnecting with one another like the beams and structure of the hospitals ironworks. In fact as Hinata looked at the strings more closely they matched the exact frame layout of the iron structure of the building. She had a faint idea of what they were but she needed to look further in order to truly understand what it was that was causing those chakra lines.

"Hey," Naruto called out, "What do you see?"

Hinata didn't pay attention to what Naruto was saying or asking. All that mattered in her mind was to find the source. She saw that the chakra lines were flowing in an outward and upward direction. Just like the flames of a fire going from the base and upward. She began to look downward and saw all the lines around here were just as she suspected: flowing from a singular source.

"I think…I…found something." Hinata said as she allowed her Byakugun eyes to look further down into the buildings bottommost floor.

From what her eyes saw, it looked like a utility space: lots of water heaters, generators, and so on, but among them was the source of the red and yellow lines. It was a small oblong object that was positively bursting with the energy that Hinata saw in the lines. Instantly, she knew what it was: an explosives tag.

"In the basement!" She cried as she disengaged the Byakugun and dashed down the hallway to the stairs with Sakura and Naruto following behind.

"Hinata!" Naruto called, "Hey! Wait for us!"

"What did you see?" Sakura demanded following fast behind Naruto.

* * *

The look of the hospital basement and utility area was just like any other place of commercial design: functional. Places like it didn't have to be pretty on any sort of scale. It just had to be a place where the generators, water heaters, as well as water softeners had to be. It was in there that Hinata found it.

She flung open the door and came in with her Byakugun still activated and looking for the source with her other teammates behind her, out of breath and frustrated at their comrades rash choice of action. Naruto himself was especially out of breath and it confused him that Hinata was acting in such a manner. It seemed so unlike her that she would just run off without telling the others about it.

"What is it, Hinata?" Sakura asked with her frustration coming closer and closer to the surface.

To the others the room was dark but to Hinata she could see everything clearly. The red and yellow strings were everywhere. They branched outward and crossed over each other like the lines in a circuit board. There were spots where the red and yellow seemed to merge into one like two lights amplifying one another to the point that it was hard to distinguish between one and the other but there was one within the floor that caught Hinata's attention. It was one of those spots where the chakra was the brightest but there was also something else that was unusual about it.

From that one bright spot in the floor she saw a singular black line that seemed to cut through all the other red and yellow chakra lines. It stretched from the spot across the room to where Hinata and the others stood.

"It's too dark in here." Naruto said as he felt something along the wall that felt like a light switch.

Hinata's eyes looked and saw where the black line led to and there was a hand reaching it.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried out but the damage had been set in motion.

To Be Continued…


	3. The Darkest Hour

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights to Naruto or any other songs or other character references made in this story.

© Naruto – Masashi Kishimoto

Naruto: Three Hearts. One Love

Chapter 3: The Darkest Hour

There have always been times when Naruto would find himself waking up in the hospital after something had gone wrong on a mission and this time was no exception. The last thing that he remembered was reaching for the light switch so that he and the others could see what Hinata was looking for but when he flipped it...

It was that thought and memory of when he flipped the light switch that he woke up and saw the ceiling of his hospital room. He tried to move but nearly everything in his body was in such pain. Once again, there had been times before that he had gotten himself into these types of situations and he was no stranger to pain. He grinded his teeth and bore the pain his body as he tried to get himself up to a sitting position.

"Here, let me get that for you." A very familiar voice called out.

Naruto felt something beneath the bed begin to move and it moved the mattress and his body into a sitting up position. He looked to his right and saw the face of Tsunade-sama's subordinate: Shizune. She was smiling a little but Naruto could see that there was something that was troubling her immensely.

"It's good to see you awake, Naruto." She said, "You've been unconscious for nearly three days since we found you in the wreckage."

"Wreckage?" Naruto asked with a voice sounding weak and dry.

Shizune took a deep breath, "The attack was done on the hospital…everyone was dead…except you, Sakura, and Hinata."

Naruto tried to fling himself up, "are they alright?" Before he could even bring his legs out, he winced in pain, and Shizune reached out and moved him back into his bed.

"I'm afraid they aren't." Shizune said gravely, "They're both in critical condition and their chances for survival…aren't…"

Naruto didn't need to hear anything else. He tried again to get himself out of bed but with even greater effort. He managed to throw back the blanket that covered him and he noticed how nearly all of his body was covered in bandages but he didn't care about that at all. He wanted to see Sakura and Hinata even if it meant crawling on his stomach over the hospital floor.

"Please, Naruto." Shizune pleaded as she tried to get his body back up into his bed. "You need to rest."

"I'll tell you what I need." Naruto spat as he grabbed onto Shizune's sleeve, "I need to see Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan! I don't care if you chain me to the bed I'm still going to see them!"

Shizune should have known better that once Naruto has his mind set it was difficult, if not impossible, to change his mind about it. She reached up and pulled Naruto's hand away from her sleeve.

"You'll need a wheelchair." She said as she got up, headed out, and brought in a standard hospital wheelchair and aided Naruto into it.

She pushed him along down the hall to the room where Sakura and Hinata were. As the two of them got into the room they saw the two ninja in their beds and what Naruto saw nearly made him cry. He saw them both covered in bandages stained with blotches of their own blood. The only signs of who was beneath the bandages were the tufts of hair. Both Sakura's beautiful pink and Hinata's sleek black were sticking out from beneath their bandages in wild and unruly fashions. There were myriads of wires and tubes sticking into their mouths with the beeping of the machines and the slow rise and fall of the artificial respirator.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?" A stern and elderly voice asked.

Naruto's tear-filled eyes looked to find Tsunade-sama standing over by the window with three familiar and unfamiliar people around her. His mind was a confused torrent of shock, revulsion, anger, and sorrow over what he saw in the beds that he couldn't answer her question.

"I apologize, Tsunade-sama." Shizune said, "He insisted to see them."

"I see." Tsunade said as she turned back to the three people standing near her.

Naruto only stared back at Sakura and Hinata cursing himself that he couldn't do anything to save either one of them.

"That's the situation." Tsunade said.

"Is there anything that can be done to save our daughter?" A worried voice of a mother asked, "We'll do anything."

Naruto only glanced for a moment to the window and he did notice that one of the people standing with Tsunade was Hinata's father: Hiashi Hyuga. It was always easy to distinguish him since he had those same Byakugun type eyes and that always serious expression on his face and his exceedingly long black hair that was slicked back from his hardened brow. He didn't say anything. He only looked to the injured Hinata hooked up to the machines that kept her alive only by a singular thread.

"There is one way that I can save both Hinata and Sakura." Tsunade said, "However, I have to tell all of you that it is an extremely forbidden Jutsu. It also carries with it several risks. For one if it is missed by the slightest degree it could loose the lives of both girls."

"What is this technique?" Hiashi Hyuga asked with his voice in all of its propriety.

"It is called the Fusion Jutsu." Tsunade answered.

Shizune's eyes already went wide when she heard the name of the technique. "Tsunade-sama!" She gasped, "You can't be serious."

"Shizune!" Tsunade snapped bringing her subordinate back to order before turning back to the others, "I wanted you two to know about this and I wanted to ask your permission before going ahead with it."

"Please." The voice of the mother, which Naruto assumed was Sakura's mother, asked, "Save our daughter."

"I have your permission, then." Tsunade said before she turned to Hiashi, "And you Hyuga-sama?"

Hiashi Hyuga only answered with such cold and cool calculation, "Go ahead with the technique."

Shizune began to turn and roll Naruto out of the room and headed back to his.

* * *

Shizune was helping Naruto back into his bed when he asked the question.

"Shizune," He began, "What is this fusion Jutsu?"

Shizune had a look of such gravity that it was as if Naruto had asked the hardest question that anyone would have to face. She pulled up a chair and sat before she began her explanation.

"It was a technique developed or at least experimented by Orochimaru himself." Shizune began, "It was a technique that was seized before he left the village and one that Tsunade-sama knows."

"What does it do?" Naruto pressed.

Shizune took a deep breath, "It literally fuses the bodies, chakra, minds, memories, and personalities of two people into a completely new individual."

"A new individual?" Naruto asked in shock of what he was hearing. Instantly, he thought of a question that was the most pertinent. "What will happen to Sakura and Hinata?"

She only looked downward at the sheets.

"Shizune." Naruto pleaded once again, "What will happen to them?"

"The girls that you know of as Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga will no longer exist…but in another way they will."

"What does that mean?!" Naruto snapped.

"The new individual will be just like Sakura and Hinata but at the same time she will be very different." Shizune paused but then placed a hand on Naruto's, "I know this is hard, Naruto."

"How can Hinata's father and Sakura's family agree to this?" Naruto wondered aloud on the verge of tears.

Shizune squeezed his hand, "I think it's because they want to see their children live. Even if it is in a different form."

She got up and started to leave the room. She stood at the doorway for a moment as if she were to turn back and say something encouraging to Naruto in this darkest hour but the truth was that Shizune couldn't think of anything that she could say to him about it. The only thing she could do was be at the side of her friend and master: Tsunade. She left the room and Naruto behind with the hanging question and deep uncertainty.

Naruto looked around and saw a pair of headphones. Since there was nothing else to do he slipped them on and began to listen to whatever was playing. He heard the smooth voices of two disk jockeys.

"Hey, this is the Star Dragon." One voice said

"And this is the Classic Cowboy, coming at you live on WKPX. Here's a little song off the request line from a girl named Audra. It's _Standing Outside a Broken Telephone Booth_ by Primitive Radio Gods."

Naruto listened as the song began. It was a very soothing and mellow song with a soft drum beat at the beginning and the vocals began.

_I've been downhearted baby._

_I've been down, I've been downhearted Baby._

_Ever since the day we met._

_Ever since the day we met_

_I've been downhearted baby_

_I've been down, I've been downhearted baby_

_Ever since the day we met_

_Ever since the day we met._

_Jan lays down and wrestles in her sleep._

_Moonlight spills on comic books and superstars in magazines_

_An old friend calls us and tells us where to meet_

_Her plane takes off from Baltimore_

_And touches down on Bourbon Street._

_We sit outside and argue all night long _

_About a god we've never seen_

_But never fails to side with me_

_Sunday comes and all the papers say_

_Ma Theresa's joined the mob _

_And happy with her fulltime job._

The song seemed to be like a very gentle kind of sedative for Naruto because despite all that he had heard about Sakura and Hinata he was already starting to drift into a peaceful place between being asleep and being awake. Maybe it was some kind of sedative that was in his system and starting to take effect. Either way, he didn't care because he was starting to feel very good all over.

_I've been downhearted baby._

_I've been down, I've been downhearted Baby._

_Ever since the day we met._

_Ever since the day we met_

_I've been downhearted baby_

_I've been down, I've been downhearted baby_

_Ever since the day we met_

_Ever since the day we met._

_Am I alive or thoughts that drift away?_

_Does summer come for everyone?_

_Can humans do as prophets say?_

_And if I die before I learn to speak _

_Can money pay for all the days I lived awake but half asleep?_

_A life is time, they teach you growing up._

_The seconds ticking killed us all _

_A million years before the fall_

_You ride the waves and don't ask where they go_

_You swim like lions through the crest_

_And bathe yourself in Zebra flesh_

_I've been downhearted baby._

_I've been downhearted Baby._

_Ever since the day we met._

_Ever since the day we met_

_I've been downhearted baby._

_I've been down, I've been downhearted Baby._

_Ever since the day we met._

_Ever since the day we met_

_I've been downhearted baby_

_I've been down, I've been downhearted baby_

_Ever since the day we met_

_Ever since the day we met._

And Naruto fell asleep.

To Be Continued…


	4. The New Girl

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the copyrights to Naruto or any other songs or other character references made in this story.

© Naruto – Masashi Kishimoto

Naruto: Three Hearts. One Love

Chapter 4: The New Girl

Naruto snapped awake.

He was already in a state of panic as to why he fell asleep when Hinata and Sakura's life were hanging by a small thread. The thought raced through his mind like a typhoon at maximum. He threw back the sheets of his bed and flung his legs over the side. He ignored the pain in his body because he was determined to learn the fate of his friends and comrades. The second that he had placed all of his weight onto both feet he began to stumble forward. Thankfully his hand reached out and set itself against the window as a makeshift crutch. The floor was stinging cold against the soles of his feet which only amplified the dull pain in his body.

Grinding his teeth he hobbled his way inch by inch to the door. Never before had such a short distance seemed like a hike up some impossible mountain and just as he was making his way towards it the door opened and a nurse came in.

"Mister Uzumaki!" She exclaimed, "you're not supposed to be out of bed."

"I need to see my teammates!" Naruto growled as he moved his hand from the window to the bed railing for his crutch.

"You're…" The nurse tried to connect what Naruto was saying, "Oh yes! The girl in two-twenty. She asked me to come find you and bring you to her."

"Girl?" Naruto asked, "Don't you mean girls?"

The nurse shook her head, "I only saw one girl."

Just like many times before, Naruto was confused, but he knew that the answers were coming when the nurse brought out a wheelchair and set him into it. The feel of the wheelchair was so much better than trying to hobble his way around. He remembered the path that they were taking since his room was just down the corridor from Hinata and Sakura's. As the Nurse was pushing the wheelchair along he started to think back over the jutsu that Shizune was talking about. As he started to think about what the jutsu could do, a wave of fear came over him, he started to wonder what kind of person she would be, and most of all would it be more like Sakura or more like Hinata? He had already connected the dots that the girl in the room that the nurse was talking about had to be _her._ She was a girl born of both Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga. His stomach began to twist into knots on itself as he started to wonder about who was in that room. If it weren't for the fact that his stomach was empty he would have thrown up it's contents.

"Here we are." The nurse said as the wheelchair turned into room 220.

Naruto looked in and saw that one of the beds was empty. He remembered how one of the beds had Sakura in it. She was bandaged and bloody from the crashing debris of the hospital and hooked up to all kinds of machines to keep her alive. He then looked to the other bed closest to the window and in that bed was someone _very _different.

It had to be the girl that the nurse was talking about and Naruto could swear he saw Hinata and Sakura in that girl. In the light of the sun pouring through the windows he saw that she had very long hair, the very same length as Hinata's but the color was different. In fact the color was like Sakura's _but_ it wasn't. The color wasn't pink but rather a shade closer to red. Despite the angle that Naruto was at he could see the color of her eyes and they were just like Hinata's; a white glazed look but Hinata's had a more lavender shade to its white glaze. The girl that Naruto saw had more of a blue shade to her eyes.

Despite how much Naruto tried to deny his own perverted nature he couldn't help but look down at her chest. The way that the hospital gown flowed over her chest made Naruto think of how wonderfully endowed she was. She wasn't too big but at the same time she wasn't too small either. Yet, the thing that really took Naruto by surprise was her smile. It was the kind of smile that neither Sakura nor Hinata had. Sakura's smile was usually one used out of automatic courtesy. Hinata's was used more in her blushing state whenever she would speak with Naruto.

She turned her gaze. "Naruto-kun." She smiled, "Thank you for bringing him, nurse."

"You're welcome, miss." The nurse bowed, "And now I'll leave you two alone."

Naruto only stared as the nurse left him along with this woman who was both familiar in her features and a stranger at the same time with her smile.

"Come closer, Naruto-kun." She asked as she patted the side of her bed beckoning him closer.

The way she called him was also a feature that struck Naruto the most. It was usually Hinata who would call him that and used the honorable suffix of "kun". He knew that Sakura never did that. She never used "San", "Chan", or "kun" because to her he was just Naruto and nothing else. In fact as he thought about it she only called Sasuke with that suffix.

Naruto reached down to the wheels of his chair and slowly pushed himself forward towards the side of her bed.

"I know that this is very…_weird_, Naruto-kun." She said with the utmost politeness, "It was only a few days ago, you knew two very different women, and now they are both here in this one person."

Naruto didn't say anything as his mind was trying to understand who was who within what he was seeing.

"Well, say something, Naruto-kun." She demanded.

He snapped his attention at her and he could already hear Sakura's voice in that sentence. He scratched his head.

"Which…" He uttered, "Who…"

The girl smiled as she leaned forward and placed her hand on his forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever."

"I don't." Naruto answered but added his same sentence fragments, "Who…which…"

The girl giggled, "I guess that leaves out who, where, why, and when, doesn't it?"

The way she giggled was also unusual to hear for Naruto since he hadn't heard either Hinata or Sakura laugh with such sincerity.

"Which girl are you?" He finally managed to ask.

"Which?" The girl asked, "At this point, I'm an equal fusion of both girls. I am both Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga, Naruto-kun."

"But…" Naruto shook his head trying to figure out how to state the question, "What do I call you?"

The girl nodded, "It will be confusing if you were to call me either Sakura and Hinata."

"Sakata?" Naruto suggested, "Or Hinakura?"

The girl giggled again, "Dear me, no. I actually have thought of a name for myself while I was sitting here and looking out the window. From now on, Naruto-kun, I want to be called Natsuko."

"Natsuko." Naruto smiled, "A summer child."

"Well that takes care of one issue." An old voice called out from the door.

Both Naruto and Natsuko looked towards the door and found the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, and her subordinate Shizune at her side. Tsunade came in and passed by Naruto and sat down on the bed next to Natsuko and began examining her like a doctor examining her patient.

"How are you feeling?" Tsunade asked.

"Physically, I feel fine." Natsuko answered, "Mentally though, I feel a little…mixed up."

"How so?"

"It's the memories of both Hinata and Sakura." Natsuko explained sounding like she was trying to find the right explanation for what she was feeling. "It's like watching the same movie but seeing it from two different camera angles. Such as the feelings towards Naruto-kun."

"What feelings?" Naruto demanded.

"Well…" Natsuko began as she did a gesture that Naruto had only seen Hinata do. She brought her hands up together close to her chest while the tips of her index fingers tapped against one another. Her cheeks began to flush slightly as the blood rushed into her face. "You see…Hinata had very deep feelings towards Naruto-kun. She did want to tell this to him for a very, _very_ long time but that comes into slight conflict with Sakura's feelings. At first she considered Naruto-kun an annoyance in comparison to Sasuke-kun but that began to change over time. It changed into a greater fondness for him since she came to admire Naruto-kun for his determination and unwillingness to give up."

"It will feel like this for a while." Tsunade explained. "For now, I suggest both you and Naruto rest."

"But what about the mission, Tsunade-sama?" Natsuko asked sounding panicked.

"That's already been resolved." Tsunade reassured as she placed a hand on Natsuko's shoulder. "The attackers have been captured and dealt with. For now, you two will rest for the next few days, then you'll be released, and you'll head back to Kohona."

"I see." Natsuko said sounding remorseful. "I only wish we could have done something to prevent the loss of all those at the hospital."

"What has happened has happened." Tsunade said as she was about to leave.

"Tsunade-sama." Natsuko asked, "I have one request to make."

"What sort of request?" Tsunade asked while she turned to look at this new girl.

"I'd like Naruto-kun to share this room with me."

Tsunade looked at Natsuko and then at Naruto wondering, at first, why she was making this request, but she could see the reason in her pale-blue eyes.

"I'll talk to the nurse and have it arranged." Tsunade answered

"Thank you."

"Just make sure no funny business goes on while you two are in the room together." Tsunade warned as she left the room with Shizune.

As the door closed Naruto looked at Natsuko, "What'd she mean by funny business."

Natusko smiled, "I think that's a discussion for another time."

To Be Continued…


End file.
